Even after a week, the notion of winning the top lottery prize has not sunk in for a lucky Markham winner.
On Dec. 22, Susan Flam was finishing her weekly grocery shopping. She stopped by the customer service area to scan her Lotto Max ticket.
“I was doing my everyday stuff,” said the grandmother of five and self-published author from Thornhill. “The first ticket I scanned wasn’t a winner. The second ticket said I won $50,000.”
Unsure of what she saw on the scanner, she checked her ticket again.
“No, I was wrong,” she said. “I needed to add more zeros.”
Ms Flam had won the $50 million lottery jackpot.
“I was stunned,” she said. “It is still unbelievable.”
She was hoping to claim her prize, unnoticed and with a little anonymity.
But one cashier called over another and another, soon her picture was all over the news and media calls came flooding in.
“It’s not like you see it on TV, where everyone is jumping up and down,” she said. “I stood there in disbelief.”
Earlier this year, Ms Flam took to pen and paper to help her through her journey of chronic illness and depression that spanned more than 30 years.
Her book, Choices: Lemons or Chocolate is about how to overcome obstacles.
“This book was about how I got through it,” she said. “I want to empower people through their own depression.”
As the tittle suggests, she says it all comes down to choices – lemons or chocolate.
Winning the lottery was definitely a chocolate type of event.
“Life takes a lot of turns,” she said. “Winning the lottery is life-changing. And with a lot of choices, you must choose wisely.”
Ms Flam is following her own penned advice when it comes to stress – clear your mind.
“You can’t think clearly if you stay in the midst of it all,” she said. “Even I needed to get away from the hype and insanity of it all. There is a lot of planning that comes with this.”
While it may be too early to tell how winning $50 million will affect her and her family, she knows there is a lot of responsibility that comes along with the win.
“I’ve been handed this gift,” she said. “I have to use it wisely and do good for others, too, like a pay-it-forward type of thing.”
Over the years, Ms Flam has been involved in many fundraisers and charities, including volunteering for the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
“With this money, I have a responsibility to my family and to the community,” she said. “I’m always helping others and that’s not going to stop.”
Her book, Choices: Lemons or Chocolates, is sold at Batner Bookstore in Thornhill as well as online at chapters.indigo.ca